Contractual Duties: Performance, Breach, Termination and Remedies, 5th Ed by Professor Andrew Tettenborn | 2026*

Contractual Duties: Performance, Breach, Termination and Remedies, 5th Ed by Professor Andrew Tettenborn | 2026* 

This book provides a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of contract law in the context of disputes. Authored by three distinguished academics—Professor Neil Andrews, Professor Andrew Tettenborn, and Professor Graham Virgo KC—the book offers detailed coverage of contractual performance, the classification of breaches, termination rights, and the various remedies available to parties.

It is an invaluable resource for litigation practitioners, commercial lawyers, and contract law specialists seeking practical and focused guidance on contractual disputes, without the extensive scope of a general contract law textbook.

Scope and Coverage of Contractual Duties: Performance, Breach, Termination and Remedies, 5th Ed:

The book is organised into four detailed parts, providing a focused examination of key aspects of contractual duties and remedies:

Part 1 – Rescission: Explores the fundamental principles and various grounds for rescinding a contract, including misrepresentation, mistake, non-disclosure, duress, undue influence or pressure, lack of capacity, unconscionable conduct, and breaches of fiduciary obligations. It also examines the circumstances that may prevent rescission and the legal consequences that follow.

Part 2 – Breach: Explains the different categories of contractual breach and the terminology used to distinguish them, with particular emphasis on the important distinction between strict and non-strict contractual obligations.

Part 3 – Discharge: Examines the ways in which contractual obligations may be discharged due to impossibility, illegality or frustration. It also considers recent Supreme Court developments concerning force majeure clauses.

Part 4 – Remedies: Provides a comprehensive analysis of the remedies available for contractual breaches. It begins with claims for debts and their limitations before examining damages in depth, including the underlying framework of damages law, methods of assessment, and various forms of financial loss such as expectation loss, reliance loss, consequential loss, the “cost of cure” approach, and balance-sheet calculations. A separate chapter considers agreed damages, while the final section addresses specific enforcement.

Key Features of Contractual Duties: Performance, Breach, Termination and Remedies, 5th Ed:

-Critical and Analytical Approach: Going beyond a statement of black-letter law, the authors critically examine current legal issues and anticipate potential developments, offering their own perspectives on how challenging issues may best be addressed.

-Comprehensive and Current Case Law: The 5th edition reflects significant developments in the law, incorporating major case law and updates through May 2026.

-Practical, Practitioner-Focused Guidance: Written for those working at the “contractual coalface,” the book addresses the key questions faced by litigation practitioners, including whether conduct amounts to a breach, the rights and obligations of the parties, and the remedies that may be available.

-Focused Yet In-Depth Analysis: By concentrating specifically on contractual performance, breach, termination and remedies rather than contract law as a whole, the book provides greater depth and analysis while remaining focused and accessible.

What’s New in the Contractual Duties: Performance, Breach, Termination and Remedies, 5th Ed:

• Updated to May 2026: The 5th edition reflects developments in English contract law up to May 2026, with selected subsequent developments included where appropriate. It provides readers with current guidance on contractual performance, breach, termination and remedies.

• Expanded coverage of rescission and undue influence: The edition includes substantial new analysis of rescission and undue influence, incorporating significant recent decisions such as Hopcraft v Close Brothers, Credit Suisse v Ivanishvili, One Savings Bank plc v Waller-Edwards, and Patarkatshivili v Woodward-Fisher. These cases provide further insight into issues involving misrepresentation, lender commissions, secured lending, affirmation and restitutio in integrum.

• New analysis of repudiation and termination: Important developments arising from cases including Kulkarni v Gwent Holdings and Orion Shipping v Great Asia are examined in detail. This is particularly valuable for practitioners determining whether conduct constitutes repudiatory breach and understanding the legal consequences of termination.

• Developments in force majeure and frustration: The edition incorporates the Supreme Court's decision in RTI Ltd v MUR Shipping BV, examining the interpretation of force majeure clauses alongside broader considerations of contractual freedom, commercial certainty and the importance of precise drafting where significant contractual rights are involved.

• Updated treatment of damages and remedies: New developments, including Skyros v Hapag-Lloyd on damages for breach of standard contractual obligations and Tesco v USDAW on specific remedies, provide practical guidance on assessing loss, enforcing contractual rights and developing an appropriate remedial strategy.

• New discussion of conditional obligations: Following King Crude v Ridgebury, the book examines how a party's own conduct may affect the fulfilment of contractual conditions—an issue of particular significance in sophisticated and complex commercial agreements.

• Foreword by Lord Hamblen: The edition features a foreword by Lord Hamblen of the UK Supreme Court, reinforcing the book's authority and its practical relevance to those working “at the contractual coalface”, including litigation practitioners and judges.

About the Author: 

Professor Andrew Tettenborn has been a prominent member of the Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law at Swansea Law School since 2010, where his academic work focuses primarily on private and commercial law. He has previously taught at the Universities of Cambridge, Exeter and Geneva, and has held visiting academic appointments at institutions across Europe, Australia and the United States.

Professor Tettenborn serves as the General Editor of Clerk & Lindsell and is a co-author of Contractual Duties: Performance, Breach, Termination and Remedies, currently in its fourth edition. He is also the editor of Sealy & Hooley’s Text, Cases and Materials, a leading student textbook on commercial law, and joint editor of Marsden’s Collisions at Sea.

His extensive scholarship includes numerous articles and book chapters covering a wide range of topics in tort, contract and commercial law. He also serves on the editorial boards of Lloyd’s Maritime & Commercial Law Quarterly and the Journal of International Maritime Law. In addition to his academic contributions, Professor Tettenborn has provided legal advice to private clients, government departments and the Law Commission.

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